It's Always Been You
by TheTwiceNamed
Summary: This will be a Thalia/Annabeth story that starts pre-Lightning Thief and runs until I feel like it. Rated M for femmeslash in later chapters. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey All! Charlie here. I just wanted to thank you all for your patience with me on this story. When I took this on, I didn't realize what a beast Krissy had left me. But here we are. I'll try and update at least once a week, if not more often.**

**None of these characters belong to me and everything through Chapter 10 (basically) belongs to Krissy Hale (KrissyH415). I adopted this story from her. Fans of the original will likely notice some differences, but I didn't change much in the way of plot. As always reviews are appreciated. Enjoy!**

**-Charlie D (My last name is not nearly as awesome as Kris' so we'll leave it at 'D' for now)**

We'd made it out of the park alive. We were running now. For some reason it felt like we were always running.

It was Fall now, and the cold burned my already strained lungs. I needed a break or I'd collapse.

_Turn right, _something whispered. I wasn't surprised; it wasn't the first time I'd heard that voice, my guide. It'd never led me wrong before, so I grabbed Luke by the sleeve and pulled him sharply into a dark alley as we ran past it. He let out a noise that one might describe as bordering on "girly," and I quickly slapped my hand over his mouth, pressing us both against the cold brick wall. I listened, waiting with my spear still at the ready, praying for silence. Praying that they hadn't followed.

I held my breath, even though my lungs burned with their need for oxygen. After a few minutes, I brought my hand from his mouth and stepped away. I collapsed against the opposite wall of the alley and looked up at Luke, his sword dripping with viscous green liquid. I met his eyes, his pupils blown at the rush of adrenaline. I knew my own blue eyes likely mirrored his.

I brought my free hand to my chest, feeling as my heart pounded against my ribs. I needed to relax, to gather my wits. But just as I took a deep breath to settle my nerves, a crashing from behind two garbage cans brought me back to my feet, weapon at the ready.

I looked over to Luke, signaling with my eyes to exercise caution. Together, weapons raised, we approached the source of the noise.

When we were nearly within a striking distance, I looked to Luke and then back toward the garbage cans and counted with my fingers, _1…2…3!_

I grabbed the metal garbage can and flung it backwards before turning my attention to…

"A little girl?" I heard Luke say.

Behind the garbage and, really, covered in garbage, was a small girl. She couldn't have been older than seven. Her clothes were dirty, torn and caked with blood in a few places. She clutched a lead pipe in her small, shaking hands. Mostly, though, she looked scared and cold, her knees curled into her chest and her face tucked away, as if waiting for our attack.

Something about the whole situation just seemed...so...familiar.

And then I remembered how I looked almost a year ago when Luke had found me. A little older than she, but, for the most part, exactly the same.

A soft whimper snatched me from my thoughts. I looked down at the girl only to see her looking back up at us, her eyes darting between Luke's sword and my spear.

She was afraid of us. As soon as I realized it, I dropped my spear and fell to my knees, crawling slowly toward where she sat, still hidden by garbage and debris.

She flinched, clutching the pipe tighter in her hand and moving as if to try and get farther away from me, try and curl into a smaller ball. However, before she could do anything, I reached out and placed my hand gently on her arm.

"Shhh," I said, "It's okay. We're not going to hurt you." She looked up at me.

I nearly feel backwards as I was greeted with beautiful grey eyes. Soulful, curious, grey eyes.

Grey eyes I'd seen before.

I looked back at Luke as if to ask if he'd seen what I had before turning back to her, "There we go. It's okay. You're safe. Just put down the pipe, okay?"

She looked at me, searching my eyes, searching my intentions, searching my soul. I'd never felt so bare before. I felt as though those piercing grey irises were stripping me down, determining my worth. I felt a shiver move down my spine and I found myself lost in those eyes.

The clang of a pipe against asphalt broke me from my trance. I smiled at her and opened my arms to her. She smiled briefly and looked as if she wanted to come to me, before flinching away.

I whipped my head around to see Luke approaching with his sword still in hand. "Luke, you idiot, drop the sword! You're scaring her!"

He looked suspicious at first, but I glared at him. I saw him flinch at the angry electricity I knew he saw in my eyes.

Finally, he sheathed the sword and, almost instantaneously, I felt the girl beside me relax.

I turned back to her and took her up in my arms. She fell into my chest and immediately started sobbing into my shirt. I brought my hand up, holding her head to me, trying so hard to tell her without words that she was safe in my arms. My fingers ran through knotted and dirty, yet still noticeably blond hair.

After a couple minutes of her crying in my arms, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Luke, "It's not going to be safe here for much longer. We have to get to the safe house. Can you carry her or should I?"

He sounded rushed and his panic struck a sympathetic chord somewhere in the part of my brain that was dedicated to self-preservation, but I knew we couldn't leave the alley just yet. I leaned back from the young girl; just enough to look down into those big, teary grey eyes.

I smiled softly at her, "Hey there, you're alright. No one is going to hurt you." I was rewarded with a small, tentative smile. "My name is Thalia and that guy over there? That's my friend Luke. What's your name?"

She sniffled, "M-my name is Annabeth … Annabeth Chase."

I smiled, "Well hey there, Annabeth. Do you mind if we ask what you're doing in this alley?"

"H-hu-hiding," she choked out.

A chill crept up my spine. I already knew the answer, but I had to ask, "From what?"

She hesitated, clearly unsure as to whether she should answer the question. I pressed, "Annabeth, what are you hiding from?"

She answered. So softly that I couldn't here. "Huh? What was that? I asked again.

"The monsters."

My entire body tensed and I could almost feel as Luke's did the same.

I pulled the girl tighter to my chest as a fresh round of tears started up. I rocked her back and forth, hushing and whispering softly in her ear that everything was going to be okay.

When the crying eased up, she pulled away slightly, "So...so you believe me? About the monsters?"

I smiled sadly, "Yeah. We do. See, Annabeth, we're like you. We can see the monsters too. We run from the monsters just like you do…sometimes we fight them. But we all have something very important in common."

"What's that?" she asked.

"We're all special. Kind of like superheroes, but better. But right now, Annabeth, we have to leave here because there could be monsters near by. Do you want to come with Luke and I?"

"Yeah, can I?" she asked, shyly.

"Of course you can," I smiled. "Now let's go. Oh! But first…Luke, can you give our young lady something a little better than a lead pipe?"

He looked at me like I'd asked him to donate a kidney, but I looked back at him, using my infamous scowl o' doom, and he sighed in defeat.

He took a dagger from his belt and handed it to her. He said some things as I left, not really paying attention, to look for my spear in the garbage pile where I'd tossed it earlier.

Finally I found it and turned back to Luke and Annabeth, "You guys ready to go?"

Luke nodded. Annabeth took a step toward me and took my hand in hers, looking up at me with those big grey eyes. "I'm ready, Thalia. Can we go now? I'm kinda sleepy." And I swear to the gods my heart just about melted.

I would protect this girl. I would keep her safe if it was the last thing I did.

"Okay," I said, "Let's move out."

We trudged. 'Trudge' is really the only verb I can think of that accurately describes how we got back to the shelter that night. Luke and I were both tired from our encounter in the park earlier and even though Annabeth was small for her age, it didn't make her any easier to carry once she got too tired to walk. The whole thing was made even worse by the fact that Luke couldn't take her because every time he tried she would have a fit and start screaming.

After what seemed like a trek to rival the Exodus, we finally made it to the safe house we'd built on the riverbank. I use the word 'house' liberally, here, because it was really more of a hut.

Luke motioned for me to duck behind some brush with Annabeth while he checked the perimeter of the campsite, so I crouched behind a bush that I hoped would be thick enough to hide us if the need arose. I softly pried Annabeth's arms from around my neck and turned her so that I was now cradling her. She stirred a bit, but did not wake. _Thank the gods,_ I thought. A cranky seven year old was definitely not what I needed at that moment.

It was then that I really got to look at her for the first time. She had the soft features that one would expect of a child, but I could tell already that my little one would be a heart breaker one day. _Wait...my? Where did that come from?_

I swept a strand of dirty blond hair away from her face and behind her ear. I had never seen someone look so thoughtful as they slept. It was as if, even in her dreams, she was trying to solve some terribly hard math problem. My fingers smoothed over her slightly furrowed brow.

_It's okay, little angel,_ I thought, _I've got you. I won't let anything hurt you._

A twig snapped behind me and I jumped. I clutched Annabeth tighter to my chest, ready to protect her from …

"Luke?" I choked, my heart still beating in my throat. "For Hades sake, Luke, what the hell do you think you're doing? You scared me!"

"Whatever. It's safe," he said. "Grab the girl and let's get some sleep."

I went to stand, but found myself unable to carry Annabeth any further. I looked to Luke, "Can you please help me with her? She's too heavy."

"What? No! It was your idea to pick up the runt, now you have to deal with it," he said, raising his voice.

I half whispered, half shouted back, "Will you shut up? You're going to wake her up!" I looked down at my - I mean the - sleeping girl to make sure his yelling hadn't disturbed her.

"No! This was your idea and you know what? You never even asked me what I thought! It's just 'Oh look, some dead weight! Let's take her along!' You know what else is dead weight but could actually be useful? Food! We can't even eat her! What good is she to us?"

"Gods, Luke. We couldn't just leave her there! She's just a little girl... And I don't know if you were hearing what I heard, but she's like us! She needs our help…" I looked at him with my sad puppy-dog eyes.

His harsh façade softened a little. I knew I could break him.

"Please, Lukey. Can we keep her? Pleeeeeeaseeee," I pleaded gently. But under the surface I knew that it was more than her needing our help that made me want to protect her. It was something in those grey eyes. Something in the way that her warm body molded into mine as I held her sleeping form made me want to keep her that way forever.

Luke cracked a smile, "Oh, fine. But you're responsible for her! Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, ya big softy. Now help me get her inside so we can get some sleep."

He walked over and took her from me. Immediately, I missed the warmth of her. The emptiness disturbed me only for a moment before I stood, my hand resting on my chest where her head had just been, remembering the weight of it. Luke ducked inside with her and I took a deep breath before following.

We only had two straw mattresses that we had made from grass that grew around the campsite. Luke had laid her on mine. _Shit, _I thought, _I didn't think about that._

Most of the shelters that Luke and I had built up and down the East Coast were built to fit two comfortably. Now that we had a third, most of them would have to be expanded or rebuilt entirely.

For now, though, I reached for one of the blankets Luke and I had gotten from a youth shelter and draped it over Annabeth and myself. I lay on my back, but as my head hit the pillow, Annabeth shifted in her sleep, curling into my warmth.

I stiffened at the contact at first, but relaxed when she nuzzled her way under my arm. Her head rested between my neck and shoulder and her left arm draped over my waist.

I focused on her steady breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

_ I was running along the river, shin deep in the dregs near the bank. I was running as fast as I could, but the water slowed each stride._

_ I turned back as I heard a scream. I see Annabeth, on her back, trying to drag herself away from something. I tried to see what it was, but it was obscured by the brush. The only thing I could see was a glint of something metallic in the trees and the terror in those big grey eyes._

_ She looked toward me, "Thalia!" She screamed my name. She screamed my name and I tried to run towards her, but the more I tried the thicker the water became._

_ "NOOOOO…"_

I woke with a start, covered in sweat. I evened out my breathing before I remembered…

My hands searched for Annabeth next to me.

My hands found her sleeping form in the dark and I said a silent prayer to the gods that she was safe and still deep in Morpheus' embrace.

_Zeus' beard that girl can sleep._

I lay back down, wrapping my arm around the waist of my little angel and pulling her to me. I made a mental note to make sure she bathed as soon as possible. And I concentrated on her even breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading, guys! A lot of people are following this story...like...more than I actually expected. Crazy. BUT remember that reviews are always super appreciated!**

**-Charlie  
><strong>

For the next few months, every morning started the same way: I would wake up covered in sweat, heart still racing from the recurring nightmare that had haunted me ever since Annabeth's first night with us. Immediately, my hands would search out for Annabeth, just to make sure she was still beside me on my cot. She always was, fast asleep and softly snoring. (I'd offered to make a separate bed for her, but she insisted that she'd rather share with me.)

Of course, this meant that I was almost always up before the the others, even Luke. So as soon as I could calm my frayed nerves, I would carefully climb from the cot and crawl out from underneath whatever poor excuse for a hut we happened to be staying in that night. I'd stretch, do a quick perimeter check and begin stoking the fire to make breakfast.

You shouldn't give me too much credit, though. Making breakfast, for us, generally consisted of heating whatever instant food we had managed to steal for that particular week, usually Ramen or Chef Boyardee or some kind of soup.

The smell of cooking food was always the surest way to wake up Luke, the hibernating bear that he was. He would generally fall out of bed when breakfast was just about done, grumbling bitterly about the hour or the weather or anything else he could find fault with. Once I had finished preparing our so-called meal, I would duck back into the shelter and rouse our Sleeping Beauty.

There were two things we quickly learned about Annabeth: that she was by far the most curious and intelligent girl either of us had ever met and that she slept like the dead. Luke and I weren't unconvinced that she could be a daughter of Morpheus.

This particular morning, I poked my head into the shelter only to find her already awake. Her blond hair was a proper mess her clothes were dirty and wrinkled. She yawned, arms stretching above her head and I felt heat flood my cheeks blush as her shirt slipped up to reveal a soft, flat tummy.

I don't know how long I had been standing there, staring before she turned to me, "Good morning, Thals!"

Her voice broke me from my thoughts, but not in time to avoid the tackle that she so cleverly disguised as a hug. The girl was small for her age but she packed quite the punch as I'd discovered while teaching her some basic fighting technique a few weeks prior.

I landed on my back, the wind knocked from my lungs. I coughed, trying to draw in enough oxygen to form some kind of response. Once I'd gathered my wits about me, my attention turned to the warm, wriggling, giggling body on top of me. She still had her arms around my waist and was now nuzzling her nose into my neck.

My heart sped at the closeness of her. More so when I felt more than heard her whisper against my skin, "I had a dream about you, Thals."

I pushed the young girl off of me, probably more roughly than I should have, and rolled away quickly. I stood to look back at where Annabeth still knelt on the ground I immediately wished I hadn't pulled away.

She was doing the pouting thing! Only I'm allowed to do the pouting thing!

She was obviously not happy with this new distance between us and for some reason I felt….bad about it? _What is going on with me? Why in Hades does this girl affect me so much?_

"Don't you give me that look," I tried to say sternly, "I invented that look. Now get your butt outside for breakfast and then…" I leaned in to take a sniff at her, "we're going to find somewhere for you to wash off. You stink worse than Luke."

Her pout became even poutier if that's even possible. "But Thals," she whined, "I don't want to take a bath. And really, it's makes more sense to stay filthy. The dirt could make it harder for the monsters to smell me. It's like a strag...strad...stratguhgy?"

"Strategy," I corrected, smiling.

Damn this girl. She was way to smart for her own good. She, however, did not have to share a bed with her stinky little self. I did. I was having none of it. "No. Breakfast and then bath. Cuz I said so. Cuz I'm older. You're not smarter than me. Because of the way the Earth's atmosphere refracts light. Because of chlorophyll. And because I always win," I said answering ever question I knew she would ask.

She looked at me with that cute scrunched up face she makes when she's thinking, "Not fair," she scowled.

"Life's not fair, my Annabeth. Deal with it. Now come on, your Spaghetti-O's are going to get cold."

"Ewww. Spaghetti-O's again?"

"Stop whining or you're on food duty next week!" Luke yelled from outside, drawing a 'hurumph' from Annabeth before she crawled out the opening and into the sunlight.

After breakfast, Annabeth and I grabbed two towels and fresh(er) undergarments and then gathered up what toiletries we had found or stolen: a hairbrush, a bar of soap, and a bottle of shampoo, and headed toward a freshwater spring Luke had found in the area.

The pool of the spring was surrounded in high grass and drained into a little stream that led straight toward camp. It was fed by a small waterfall, which, of course, was where we had planned on showering. In order to get to the waterfall, though, you had to walk through the knee high water for about 15 yards.

We took off our shoes and carried those and our other supplies over the water and set them on a small dry rock near the bottom of the waterfall. The water was frigid, and almost made me long for my mother's mansion with its water heater and warm fluffy towels. Almost. Not quite.

Annabeth started stripping down first and I looked away, blushing, to undress myself. After I was stripped down to everything but my panties and the training bra that I didn't even really need yet (I'm not even 11 yet!), I heard a splashing sound behind me. I turned to find Annabeth stuck in her own shirt, not quite able to get it over her head. Her body, however, was entirely exposed otherwise. Her flat, tight stomach led up to her flat, boyish chest. She looked cute? Awkward? I'm not entirely sure. What I was sure of was that it made me feel guilty, to watch her like that, and a hot blush spread across my cheeks and down my neck.

"Thalia," she said whined softly. It was funny to hear her t-shirt obscured head talking. I had a feeling that this would be one of those awkward moments that I could tease her with for years to come. "Can you…can you help me? I think I'm stuck."

"You think," I said teasingly, "or you know."

"I know…" she grumbled.

I waded over to her and grabbed the hem of the shirt from her. I pulled upwards, freeing her from her poly-cotton-blend prison. Her face was red; cheeks flushed with embarrassment. I smiled at her. _Adorable, _I thought.

I always showered first so that she could have a chance to swim around a little and play. She was just a little girl, after all.

I took the bar of soap, lathering up my hands, and then ran my soapy hands over my body to scrub away the layer of dirt that came with being a nomad as best I could. I rinsed my hair, which was pretty low maintenance because I kept it short. After I felt I was sufficiently clean, I turned back to face the pool only to find Annabeth no more than six inches away from me, holding a water lily and looking at me with an emotion in her eyes that I couldn't quite pin.

"Hey there, little one," I said, "what's up?"

"I found this, over there," she pointed to a little protected alcove on the other side of the pool. "I want you to have it, cuz it's pretty. And you're pretty." She smiled at me shyly.

Honestly, I'd known the girl for a few months, and already knew that Annabeth wasn't easily intimidated and she was definitely NEVER shy about expressing her feelings about something. So her timid tone and obvious nervousness confused me, to say the least.

I took the flower from her anyway. It was sweet, and it made me smile that she'd said I was pretty. In return, I gave her a kiss on the forehead and whispered a quiet, "Thank you," into her ear.

I reached around her to where my towel and clothes sat on the rock and for a split second my bare torso touched hers. I felt her shiver at the same time as I did. I mumbled a quick sorry and ran back towards camp, my legs dragging through the knee-deep water.

_Wait, _I thought, _this is too familiar…_

I remembered my dream. My nightmare.

I heard a scream and splash behind me and I turned to see Annabeth.

That look of terror.

That glint of silver in the brush

_NO! _I thought as I dropped my clothes and towel in the water and ran towards her. _No, please. I beg the gods, please no. Father, help me…_

I had never prayed to my father before, but now, as I ran toward my angel, my terrified and seemingly petrified angel? This seemed as good a time as any to start.

Just as I was about to reach her, the thing…a person stepped out of the brush, arrow drawn and aiming at my Annabeth. I changed direction, running for the archer.

I leapt, tackling him/her/it to the ground, and without hesitation started throwing my fists against any part of them I could reach: arms, chest, face... I was blinded by rage, not even really taking in what or who it was I was hitting, knowing only that it had threatened my Annabeth.

Then out of nowhere, someone/thing grabbed my arm as I drew it back to throw another punch. Then another set of hands grabbed my shoulders. Before I knew what was happening, I was on my knees on the ground restrained by at least five people. I screamed for Annabeth. I screamed, but no one answered.

I never saw it coming. A swift pain in the back of my head and then black…


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I spoil you! Okay, just so you know, updates will almost NEVER come as quickly as they have the past couple days. Right now, this is moving quickly because I'm essentially Beta-ing the original story and doing a little nip/tuck here and there. Thing is, you guys...this story has been up for a day and already has over 350 hits. BUT! NOT A SINGLE COMMENT! This isn't going to fly. I see you there, reading my story. Review! Do you like the changes? Any tips? Tell me!  
>-Charlie Bear (- only because I promised Krissy I would sign an AN like this)**

I faded in and out of blackness. Occasionally, I could sense people around me, hear their voices.

_God my head hurts, _I thought as my grasp on consciousness slowly became more firm. I took a quick inventory of body parts. Everything seemed to be attached, but my hands ached slightly. Really, a bunch of things ached. My head and hands just happened to be the worst off.

The closer to full consciousness I got, the more aware I became of the pain and the more everything hurt. The aching in my hands became more intense and throbbing. I didn't dare try to open my eyes yet, for fear of aggravating my head ache, but I did try to bring one of my (I assumed) injured hands to my chest.

Only to find it restrained. I groaned.

"I think she's coming to. Ilene, go get Zöe. Go! Quickly!" I heard one of the voices order.

More voices entered, whispering and talking around me, but none that I recognized.

I tried to open my eyes, but all I saw through blurry eyes and the piercing pain of my headache, were shapes...colors really. I heard shuffling and more whispers as I tried to raise my head and figure out where I was. I sensed movement around me.

As the world came to focus, I realized that whoever had been there, no longer was. I was alone for now.

I continued my inventory, visually: legs and arms were still attached (albeit bound behind me), both my eyes seemed to work, my head was killing me but otherwise it was fairly intact. I was in a tent of some sort, tied to one of the main supports. The walls were a silvery material and lined with furs of rare animals: tiger, grizzly, leopard, just to name a couple.

_Where _am_ I?_

I racked my brain, searching for some memory of how I got here. _Think, Thalia…You were at the waterfall...Annabeth was the...No! Annabeth! _

I let out a gut-wrenching scream as everything came back in a wave of painful recollection. I screamed her name. I screamed for her. I screamed at them. I screamed at myself for losing her. I screamed until I broke down in tears.

"ANNABETH!" I cried. "You bastards, where is she! Annabeth!"

Then, finally, I saw to figures walk in, their shapes blurred by my tears. I blinked them away, and my eyes widened at what I saw: not two thugs that I could kill for taking my Annabeth, but two young girls who were no more than two years older than my own nearly 11 years. In their silvery camouflage, they certainly didn't look like kidnappers…but still…they were. And they'd taken my Annabeth.

"Where is she?" I half yelled, half sobbed.

The younger one spoke first, "Who is the 'she' of whom you speak?"

The older one said to her, "I think, my lady, that she refers to the youngling."

"Her name is Annabeth, you bitch, now where is she?" I growled through my clenched jaw.

"She is quite unharmed, daughter of Zeus. You needn't worry," said the younger one, again. I looked at her in surprise, angered by her nonchalance with a secret I protected so closely. "Oh," she continued, "are you wondering how it is that we knew your parentage? Well, my little sister, as I said before, you really needn't worry. You are among friends, here."

_Little sister? But I was the only daughter of Zeus. I was his only demigod child…But...she says she is my sister, which could only mean that…_

"You're a god, aren't you?" I asked.

A soft smile graced the younger girl's lips, "Dear Thalia, you are as intelligent as father has said. Yes, I am a goddess. My name is Artemis."

"Artemis, why are you doing this? Why am I tied here and where is my Annabeth?" _Oops._

"_Thine _Annabeth?" the older one questioned me, smirking slightly.

I stared at her, refusing to acknowledge the dig, but I could not help the blush that rose in my cheeks. With my head slightly bowed to hide my embarrassment, I gritted my teeth, and pleaded with them, "Please, just give her back to me. I've done you no harm and she's just a young girl. She'll be scared without me. Please."

Artemis, my (technically) sister, looked at me. I wondered if she thought of my as pathetic. Hell, _I_ thought I was pathetic, but I also knew that I didn't care. I just wanted my Annabeth safely back in my arms.

Artemis turned to the flap, "Bring in the girl...Annabeth?" She looked to me as if to confirm that she'd gotten the name correct. I nodded eagerly, just wanting to see her again.

Suddenly the flaps opened, two more girls who were about the same age as Artemis and the older girl from before came in. In between them, they carried a bound, gagged and blindfolded blonde girl. My Annabeth. At least they'd clothed her. They tossed her down in front of me, and one of them continued around to my back. Artemis gave a nod and she cut the ropes from my hands and feet.

I lunged forward to the limp and crying girl in front of me. I pulled the gag from her mouth and she immediately let out a sob. I hushed her as I untied the blindfold, "Shh, little one. It's okay I'm here."

She blinked a couple times before focusing on me.

"Thalia!" she screamed/cried. She curled into my arms, crying fully now.

I looked up at the girls, yelling, "What did you do to her? She's just a little girl! She hasn't done anything!"

"My dear sister," said Artemis, "you are only a young girl yourself. Still a maiden. Still a child."

I seethed, "Shut up! You don't know anything about me!"

"Oh, Thalia. That is where you're wrong. You see, we've been watching you for some time. A daughter of Zeus in this time? My dear, everyone has been watching you."

"Everyone? Who's everyone?"

"I and my Hunters, for one. Your father. Olympus. All the great forces (good and bad) await your destiny."

"I don't believe in destiny," I said bluntly. "Why are you watching me?"

The other one, the one with the silver band braided into her dark hair, spoke, "My Lady, would you allow me to explain?"

Artemis nodded. It was weird to see a twelve year-old looking girl with that much authority, but whatever.

"My name is Zöe. I am Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis. Thalia, we have been watching thee for quite a long time: thy trials, thy victories, the boy…" she trailed off, disgust heavy in her voice at the last word. It did, however, remind me…

"Where is Luke?"

"The boy," Zöe answered, "will not enter our camp. He remains outside of our protective wards. That, however, is not what I wish to discuss with thee. Thalia, we have come here to offer you a place in our Hunt."

My jaw dropped, "You can't be serious. You come here, kidnap me, terrorize the people I love, and you want me to _join you?_ You're insane!"

Artemis stepped forward and I clutched Annabeth's still softly crying form to my body. "My sister, this is not an offer that we make often. This is not only an offer of sisterhood and protection. This is an offer of immortality. If you pledge your life to serve me and join my Hunt, you shall live forever."

_Immortality, _I thought. _I could be with Annabeth forever. I could protect her._

"What's the catch?" I asked.

Zöe answered, "There is no catch. You need only pledge your allegiance and leave everything behind to join us and become something greater."

"What about Annabeth?" I asked, "Would she be able to join?"

Artemis looked at me sadly, "I'm sorry, Thalia. Annabeth is yet too young to join. You would have to leave her here, with Luke."

I looked at the girl in my arms. Her nose tucked into the crook of my neck. I felt her breath against my skin and the beat of her heart against my own chest. I felt her warmth and smiled softly as I remembered everything we had been through together in the last few months. I remembered how annoying she was when she was being stubborn, how curious she was, how intelligent, how loving, and how she felt in my arms as we fell asleep. I knew my answer, then…

"I can't. I apologize, Lady Artemis, but I can't leave her. I can never leave her." I smiled down at her and I felt her smile as she burrowed farther into my neck.

Zöe looked furious so I avoided her gaze and looked to Artemis. The goddess looked at us, as if we were a puzzle she couldn't quite figure out. Suddenly, her expression changed to one of an understanding smile.

"I am disappointed, Thalia, but I do understand. Even if you do not entirely understand it yourself. You care for this girl, yes?" I nodded. "You care for her as I care for my Lieutenant." She smiled to Zöe, who blushed and reached her hand over, placing it in Artemis'.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean, my Lady?"

She smiled knowingly, "You are young yet, my little sister. Someday, you will understand." She winked at me and then looked to one of the girls who stood on either side of Annabeth and me and nodded. One of them leaned down and cut the binds from Annabeth's arms and legs and she almost immediately wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck.

"May we leave, now?" I asked. "She needs to rest."

Artemis nodded. "You may leave. One of my Hunters has packed some dried meat for you and the girl."

"Thank you, my Lady," I stood from my knees, with Annabeth safely in my arms.

I walked past Artemis and Zöe and the others. Just as I was exiting the flap, I heard Artemis say softly, "This will not be the last time we meet, little sister. But for now, your destiny lies at Camp Half-Blood. Make your way there and you will find friends."

I looked back over my shoulder and nodded my understanding.

We made it back to camp to find Luke pacing in front of the shelter. When he saw us, he opened his mouth to speak, but I simply put my hand up, signaling that this was a conversation for another time.

I ducked into the shelter and placed Annabeth on our cot. I grabbed a blanket and pulled it over us as I wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her body into mine. I kissed her ear softly and whispered to her, "You're safe now, my little one. No one will hurt you while I'm here. Sleep well."

In moments, she drifted to sleep and I followed soon after.

_In the morning_, I thought as I drifted into blissful unconsciousness, _we will set out for Camp Half-Blood._


	4. Chapter 4

_Six years later…_

Six years. It had been six years since I last woke up with Annabeth in my arms. Six years since the last time I felt her arms wrapped around me. Six years since I told her that I would never leave her and six years since the last I told her I loved her.

During those long years, I often replayed the events that transpired just before my…death? I'm not sure you would call it a death, per say. I was not dead. My soul did not belong to Hades. But gods knew that I felt dead. I wanted death. In my mind, I already was dead. I could not breathe as I once did, I could not run, I could not laugh, and I had no way to say the words that sat, for six years, just inside my lips. But I could remember. I spent so much of those six years just remembering.

My father had wanted to save me; he'd wanted to keep me alive and protect me. He didn't know that he was condemning me; that a life without her in my arms every night was not a life I would have ever wanted to live.

He had left me to a life of rigidity, stagnation, and cold. My warm arms would never again wrap around a slender waist and my lips would never form themselves around her name.

The only consolation for my pain was the peace I gained, knowing that I was helping to protect her - my Annabeth. I didn't even really care that it was the camp I was truly protecting, so long as my curse somehow kept her from harm…kept her happy and healthy and thriving.

Time was so different for me, then. Days seemed at once small eternities and passing whispers. Hours were not concepts easily grasped by something so long-living as a tree. I found it easier to mark the passing of time in other ways.

I marked it with memories, with milestones: Annabeth being claimed by Athena, Annabeth showing me the baseball cap her mother had given her for her birthday, Annabeth clinging to me, sobbing when Luke barely survived his quest, Annabeth telling me about a son of Poseidon (my cousin, I suppose?) who had shown up at camp, Annabeth telling me she was to leave on her first quest.

But the passing of time didn't only bring about these milestones. With each passing day, my angel was growing. Before I knew what had happened, my little Annabeth had become a young woman. She was 13 now. I had watched her grow from the small timid girl I'd met in a dark alley into a tall, blossoming young warrior. She was independent and she strong, but most of all she was beautiful. With long blonde hair and smart, piercing grey eyes, she was every bit the heart breaker I'd always known she would be.

And she was so smart, my Annabeth. Sometimes, I would peak over her shoulder when she would read in the shade beneath me. I could almost feel the smile wanting to form on my lips as I caught pictures of blue prints and architectural drafts. I would remember fondly how she had always wanted to help Luke and I expand the shelters we'd stayed in... always with new ideas and designs. I probably could have guessed then that she would grow to love architecture.

Her visits kept me strong and helped me find and re-find my will to live. I would wait, always, to see the soft glint of sun off of blond hair as she climbed the hill toward me. I would relish the moments she spent nested in my arms and I could almost imagine my stiff, rough branches softening and curling towards her, protecting her.

One day, though, everything changed. It was as though, suddenly, someone had set fire to every inch of me at once. I never saw it…him…coming. In the depths of the night, he came, a traitor. I felt my life seeping out of me.

I screamed for help, but no one heard. No one heard for days, and then a week. After all, trees can't talk, can they?

Of course, it was Annabeth who finally noticed that something was wrong. She had come to visit, but when she reached the top of the hill and saw me, standing there, I think she heard me scream. I think she felt my pain. By then, my leaves had yellowed, my bark had become a sickly shade of grey, and my wound...my wound burned and seeped and I was called out to her, begging to make it stop. Hoping she could hear.

I think she could.

The book dropped from her hands and she sprinted to me, pressing her hands flat against my bark, searching for the source of my pain. Finally, her fingers traced over a tiny yet gaping hole in my side. She gasped when my hold body shivered, shaking dead needles down around her. She pulled back her fingers, looking wide-eyed at my blood.

_Help me, my angel. It hurts…_

Faster than I'd ever seen her movie, she turned and ran down the hill, golden hair flowing behind her.

Not ten minutes later, she returned with Chiron and a few others in tow.

The centaur pressed his finger tips to the wound and and then brought it back to his lips. He though only a moment before his eyes and face fell in defeat.

He looked to my Annabeth, who was crying so hard now, "I'm sorry Annabeth. She has been poisoned…there is nothing I can do." Annabeth fell to the ground screaming in pain and I strained against the fibrous solidity of my body, aching to comfort her. Pine needles fell down all around the party of would-be rescuers. My bark creaked loudly as I tried to reach for her.

But the strain was too much. It tired me and I was already week. I eventually surrendered to the nature of my prison. Chiron looked up at me, as if he understood. How could he?

Chiron continued, speaking only to Annabeth, "I suspect she has less than a couple of weeks left before the tree, and Thalia along with it, dies entirely. Then….I fear that Camp will fall with her."

"NO!" My angel screamed, "There has to be something! Something we can do to save her! To save the camp!" She searched Chiron's eyes desperately, searching for some assurance that this was no definite. He only sighed and walked past her, pausing to put his hand on her shoulder as if to tell her to let go.

Then, the satyr Grover (for whom I had no great love) spoke, "Well, there are actually two things…"

She looked to him, beckoning him with her eyes to speak further. They turned to walk back to camp, talking of old legends and myths.

_Annabeth, _I thought, _please save me…_

Two weeks passed. Chiron said that it was a miracle that I had lasted this long, but he didn't know…

He didn't understand how much I had to fight for. He couldn't.

I had to stay alive. I had to live so that I could protect my angel. But it was so hard. Every night, I felt them pressing against me, testing my strength. Every night, holding the line became more difficult, more of a strain. But I knew that I had to hold onto life for as long as I could. For her.

It was an unseasonably cold day, I remember, when Annabeth came to me for the last time. She wrapped her arms around my middle, her warmth giving me strength if only for a little while, and she whispered to me, "I promise, Thalia. I will make everything okay. You always protected me, and now it's my turn. I love you, Thals."

I felt her warm lips against my hard, rough flesh and cried to myself as she ran off towards the beach, where I was sure Percy (that damned son of Poseidon) was waiting.

I worried over her. I had no idea where she was going and I had no idea if she would return. I would pray to the gods every night, begging for her to return safely to me. It was this hope and this hope alone that kept me clinging to my last dregs of life. I needed to see her again, safe and alive.

It had been over a month since that bastard son of Hermes had pierced my flesh, poisoning me and leaving me for dead. I was dying and I knew it. Every day, every night of strain against forces the pressed ever harder at my border, brought me closer to death.

I awoke one morning and, somehow, I knew that it would be my last day on this earth. I prayed harder than I have ever prayed before for her, my angel's, safe return. My needles were gone entirely, by then, and my bark looked sickly. My boarders had fallen almost entirely.

I felt my spirit fading, and I could see my eyes closing. I wasn't ready for death, but death was so ready to take me. I knew Hades had been waiting. He'd been waiting for years to collect me like a prize jewel - his brother's only living daughter. I'd fought. I'd fought all of it: death, Hades, hopelessness, for so long. Maybe, just this once, I would concede a battle. Maybe this time, defeat would be easier.

Then, just as I felt everything slipping from me…

I heard the faint whisper of my name. I knew that voice. I knew its owner. I searched my dimming mind for the name…

Annabeth.

My Annabeth.

_Have you come back to me, my little angel?_

"Thalia!" I heard again, this time a yell. "Please don't leave me, Thalia!"

Suddenly, I felt an embrace. It wasn't hers though. It was the embrace of something warm and shining. I felt a hot, sweet breeze sweep its way into my skin, bringing everything back to painfully sharp clarity. It was so…alive. I was so alive.

I embraced it back. I strained against my prison of a body, reaching my arms towards the burning, glorious life that was surrounding me now.

I felt almost as though I was being ripped from my skin as I clung to the force and let it drag me away from the dark, cold, and stagnant.

Then, black.

My eyes fluttered. _Eyes? _I saw flashes of light, of color.

I felt a cold breeze against my skin. _SKIN?_

Then…that voice. That voice that could only come from…

"A…Annabuh….Annabeth?" I struggled to say it. The word that had been on the tip of my tongue for the past six years.

I searched. My head turned. Finally, my eyes found what they had sought: those beautiful pools of grey, that golden hair, that smile. I brought my hand up, touching it to her cheek just to be able to feel that she was real, that I was real. I smiled tiredly at my angel, my Annabeth. My heart fluttered when she smiled right back at me.

"I'm right here," she whispered, "I'm here."

Her hand moved to cover mine and she leaned into my touch.

"I'm here, Thalia, and I'm not going anywhere."

"Anna…beth," my voice scratched, "My Annabeth. I told ….told you…always there. I prom….promised."

She smiled wider and pressed her lips to my forehead. It was this feeling that I relished as I slipped into the depths of sleep, safe in my angel's arms.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: HOWDY DOODY, PARTNERS! Okay...so now that I have your attention...this story has about 700 hits and about 200 views...and 2 comments. I need to know whether you all actually want this story to continue and it really helps me when you give me comments on my writing. Also, if there was anything you found incongruous in the first edition of this story (by KrissyH415), now would be the time to voice your concerns.**

I slept for days, dreaming always of the same thing...well, the same person really: Annabeth. My Annabeth. Her smile, her laugh, the way her hair smelled after she had been dancing in the rain (she loved to dance in the rain), the way the sun always brought out the silver flecks in her beautiful grey eyes, the warmth of her body tucked into mine.

Sometimes these dreams were so vivid, I would swear that her warm body really was pressed against my own, holding me as I had held her on those harsh, frigid nights all those years ago. Sometimes, it was as though I was hearing her voice beckoning me, calling me back to her. I could have sworn that I'd heard the voice of my angel…soft words, whispered through a fog, a soft "I love you."

But despite my best efforts, my eyes wouldn't open and I couldn't bring myself back to her. Not all at once, anyways.

For what seemed, to me at least, an eternity I felt myself climbing out of the pressing dark and towards her, towards light and the world. The climb was slow; for every foot I climbed out of my own personal Tartarus, it felt as though I slid back half the distance.

They tell me it was three weeks before I opened my eyes. I can't tell you whether that's true; I really don't remember. I guess all those years as a tree had royally screwed my sense of time.

What I do remember is the feeling of a glass being held to my mouth, a heavy liquid trickling past chapped, cracked lips. It tasted like the crème brulée that my family's chef used to sneak up to my room on nights when my mother had sent me to bed in a dramatic fit. She always found it to hard to look at me…to look at the same electric blue eyes of my father. But it also tasted like the cookies I'd had to make for myself because no one else could be bothered, and it tasted like the cake Annabeth and Luke had scrounged together for my 11th birthday. It tasted like love and childhood and warmth.

Whatever it was, it helped. It was as if it gave me that last inch of energy I'd needed to open my eyes.

At first, everything was just light and I had to fight the urge to immediately clamp my eyes shut again.

I squinted, trying to make sense of the blurs and shades of darkness. A dark shape - I assumed it was the person who'd been holding the cup - shuffled quickly out of the room. The movement dizzied me a bit. It'd been so long since I'd actually had…ya know…eyes.

Finally, everything began to come into focus. I'd been left in seemed to be some sort of medical ward, that I knew. I recognized the smell of antiseptic and cleaning products. But it looked more like something out of Ancient Greece. Then I remembered…_Of course…I'm at camp_.

I pooled my strength and pulled myself up on my elbows, looking around the room a little more. My joints screamed at the effort of being bent and flexed. Before I could take much in, though, I heard the sound of feet, running down the corridor towards me..

The curtain was ripped back and there she stood: wind-blown blond hair, face red with exertion, eyes bright and sharp. My Annabeth.

She smiled at me and it was like seeing the sun for the first time after a hundred years of night. "Thalia," she said, the word so carefully let from her lips, like a cherished prayer.

I couldn't help but smile back. "Annabeth," I said with the same care as she'd said my own name.

She ran to my side and wrapped her arms around my waist, burying her face in my neck, "I've missed you more than you could possibly know, Thalia. So, so much…"

I tried…and failed, to hold back the tears that were forming at the corners of my eyes. The little bastards trailed down my cheek as I brought my hand to the back of her head, holding her close to me. "I know, angel. I've missed you too. More than I could ever put into words."

She lifted her head from its cradle in my neck, "I knew you'd come back. It hurt so much and everyone told me to give up hope, but I told them…I knew you'd never leave me. Not forever. And then…when you weren't…ya know…a tree anymore, they said you might not wake up. But I knew. It was like I could feel you fighting."

"You're right," I smiled, "I will always come back to you, Annabeth. Always." I pressed a kiss to her forehead and she closed her eyes. "I've dreamed about it for the last six years, coming back to you."

She just smiled up at me, now with tears to match my own. I laid back and she curled into my side. The world was okay, then. It didn't matter that I'd spent the last six years as a tree. We were still Annabeth and Thalia. Her body still fit perfectly into mine, even though both had changed remarkably since they'd last met. My Annabeth. At last I had her back.

I spent the next week in bed, with Chiron and the older Apollo kids poking and prodding me. After that, it was a string of various Gods, come to see that I was, in fact, alive. It was more out of fascination than actual care for my well being, though. I was their own personal bearded lady.

Hermes came first, simply because he was already at the camp, caring for those of his children who hadn't become traitors and tried to destroy Olympus. After him it was Hephaestus with Aphrodite on his arm. He'd been sent by my father to deliver gifts from his workshop: a shield and a celestial bronze-tipped sword. She, however, just said something really cryptic about "challenges yet to come," but I'd already been warned by other campers to mostly ignore anything she says. Then it was Hera. She didn't say much…mostly just glared and told me to honor the house of Zeus and mumbled (not so quietly) that I'd looked better as a tree. I would have been offended, but this was my father's wife we were talking about. I'm just glad she didn't kill his bastard on the spot.

Last, but not least, Artemis visited. Zoë, of course, was right beside her and took the goddess' hand in her own (though only after checking that no one else could see the subtle act of affection).

Artemis embraced me and said, "My dear sister, it is good to see you well againl. I wept for you when I heard about the incident on the hill. How do you fair?"

"Better, I guess…"

She smiled, moving to sit on Zoë's lap on one of the visitor's chairs by my bed. It was the chair usually occupied by Annabeth, but she had had to leave for afternoon drills.

"And your girl, Annabeth, was it? The daughter of Athena? Is she also well?"

I smiled a small smile at the mention of my angel, "Yes. She's….she's doing great. She's taken such good care of me. I don't…I can't. I can't imagine what my life would be without her. She is everything." I smiled up at my sister, who was now smiling down at Zoë.

"Yes," said Artemis, not taking her eyes away from Zoê's. "I know exactly what you mean, dear sister."

We chatted for a while, Artemis catching me up on the latest news from the Hunt and Olympus. Night eventually fell and Artemis looked out the window at the rising moon. I knew she had to leave, her Hunters would be waiting for her.

She stood gracefully and Zoë after her, "Good night, my dear sister."

"G'night," I returned as she hugged me.

As she pulled away, she looked me very seriously in the eyes, "Just remember, Thalia, that no matter what, you will always have a home with me and my Hunters. You need only call for me, and we will find you. You are forever welcome with us."

I considered the offer and had to stop myself from reminding her that I would never leave my Annabeth, but thought that I should probably try to keep on her good side, so instead I said, "I will keep your offer in mind, Lady Artemis. Safe travels."

Then, in a flash of bright, pure white light, she was gone.

After I was allowed out of bed, I moved into the previously large, white, pillared "cabin" (read: "palace") at the end of the residential quad. It was too big and too empty, so I ended up spending a lot of time in the training arena and the Athena cabin, with Annabeth.

Over time, I slipped easily into a routine. Mornings, I went for a run with Annabeth before breakfast. Afternoons were spent training on the obstacle course, in the arena, and on the archery range. Nights were spent around the fire and talking with Annabeth in her cabin or mine. She would often lie with her head on my lap, my fingers running through her beautiful blonde hair. When she would fall asleep, I would wrap my arms around her and pull a blanket over the both of us.

Percy was…a nuisance. To say the very least. He would come to find Annabeth at all hours, often without even a real reason. Our relationship was…contentious at best. We both sought Annabeth's undivided attention and, more and more, he became frustrated when she would choose me. I, of course, probably didn't help any by teasing him near constantly.

Mostly, though, I ignored him. Annabeth had, up until then, chosen me.

That was….until that day. The day that ruined everything.

I had been late getting to our training session that day, so when I heard the sound of sparring from over the wall, I knew it had to be Annabeth and Percy. He was the only person who could even remotely keep up with her.

I quickened my step, hoping to at least catch the tail end of Percy's embarrassment. I turned the corner, though, and instead of finding a scene of carnage as I'd hoped, I found something that made my heart sink past my stomach.

Annabeth. My Annabeth, was under him. His sword was long lost, as was her blade, but he still had her pinned. Her arms were above her head. Their chests, pressed close. His body lay along the length of hers. Her blond hair was splayed out across the arena floor.

And the look…the look in her eyes…in his eyes. The closeness of it.

My hand shot to my chest, tugging at the suddenly heavy armor.

A millennium passed in those few moments. Their gaze was heavy and loaded. I knew. I knew that gaze…it was the same gaze I'd given her myself every time I thought she couldn't see.

He leaned close to her and I couldn't…I …couldn't breathe. I couldn't watch.

I turned on my heel and tore from the arena, not sure where I was going. Where do you go to heal when every step leaves another piece of your broken self in your wake? Where do you go when you feel like you can't breathe?

I needed air. I was the daughter of Zeus and I needed sky.

I ran to the forest and began scaling a pine, much like my own, but older…taller…stronger than I was. I was…so broken. I climbed slowly, slipping as i struggled to find purchase in the branches. I reached out, climbing ever higher though my vision was clouded with tears.

When I reached the top and looked back toward the ground, I fought the urge to let go and let myself plummet. What does a broken person sound like when they shatter against the earth?

I took a deep breath of the cold air. It cradled me, as the wind always had. Even as a little girl, the breeze never mussed my hair as it had that of my friends.

The icy air froze my broken insides. I was numb. The bleeding was cauterized by a sudden need to remove myself from emotion.

I knew what I had to do.

I stood in the top of the great tree and yelled to the wind, to the coming night, to anyone who would hear.

"Artemis!"

For long moments, there was no response. Then, as the moon rose over camp, a lone wolf howled and I knew she was there.

I climbed quickly to the ground, where the 16-year-old image of the silver-auraed goddess waited.

She said nothing, but reached out her hand.

I hesitated only momentarily to look back toward camp…back toward Annabeth and the trail that my broken heart had left behind me. Then I turned, and took my sister's hand. She pulled me into her and held me close as I let out a sob.

Finally, she pulled away and began to lead me by my hand into the forest.

"Goodbye," I whispered into the night. Praying that the wind would carry it to her ears.


	6. Chapter 6

_Nine months later..._

**Percy POV**

Dead. Dead. Fatally wounded. Dead.

I tore through the practice dummies one after another.

At first, it was giants, hydras, Luke that I swung Riptide through. Then, as I worked my way around the arena, rough, gnarled skin turned soft and pale, scales turned into silken yet spiky black tresses, and cruel grey eyes turned into electric blue. As I reached the last few dummies, I vaguely registered that it was Thalia - that daughter of Zeus who had fucked up everything - who I was cutting and slicing into with every swing of my sword.

As I reached the last dummy, I paused. I stared at wood and leather, knowing it wasn't her, but wishing with every inch of my being that it could be. I prayed to my father and Hades and Nemesis and any god who would listen for wood and leather to be flesh and bone so that I could find release for all the anger that had been building inside me these last nine months.

I pictured her. She wasn't a monster, no. But I hated her like I hated any member of Luke's hoard. I hated her for so many things: her beauty, her fighting skills that bested even my own, her cocky attitude. But above all I hated her because she had what I never would: Annabeth.

I let the anger and hatred build in my chest and let it give me strength. I raised Riptide above my head, but just as I was about to bring it down over Thalia's head, a conch sounded from the other side of camp, breaking my enraged trance.

I swore, but lowered my sword.

Loosening my chest plate, I left the arena, dragging my feet slightly and kicking up a cloud of dust. When I finally reached the dining hall, I made my way towards the food and stacked two plates with food. As I made my way toward the fire, though, I crashed into a wall of muscle and ugly, spilling the food to the ground.

Seething, I looked up to see Clarisse and her band of muscled idiots laughing.

"Where's your pretty little girlfriend?" she snarled. I knew exactly what she was doing; she was trying to goad me into a fight. It had been happening at least a couple times a week for months. Ever since….

But no. I wasn't going to react. Not this time.

"Leave it, Clarisse," I said firmly, "I'm not in the mood to kick your ass today. I just need to get this to-"

"No, Jackson. I decide if and when this is over. But then again, maybe I'll let it go this time. After all…" she said as she turned to the Goon Squad, "it's bad enough that we've got one crazy in this camp. Wouldn't wanna drive Prissy bonkers, too. Isn't that right boys?"

I growled as they erupted into a chorus of laughter. But just as I reached for Riptide, I heard Chiron's stern warning.

"Perseus Jackson, you will not bring out your weapon whilst in this dining hall. Ares campers, you will go to your seats now and will graciously accept bathroom duties for the rest of the week."

I heard a chorus groans and caught the tail end of a death glare from Clarisse before turning back toward the food and gathering two more plates of food. I scraped food from each plate into the fire, mumbling a quick prayer for each to Poseidon and Athena respectively, before I left to walk toward the cabins.

The owl that marked my destination always glowed a soft gray in the moonlight, just like her eyes used to…

I took a deep breath before entering. After my eyes had adjusted to the light, I made my way deliberately to a bunk in the back corner that had been shielded from view by a set of white hospital curtains.

I peeled the cloth back, trying to make as little noise as possible before replacing them and setting the two plates on the bed's night stand.

I remember when nothing but books and old scrolls had piled up on that table. Now, though, there were salves, pills, wilted flowers, uneaten food. I sighed. I missed the smell of parchment that had once surrounded this bed.

The bed's occupant stirred as I sat on the chair that sat constantly beside it and began to eat. As I ate, I began to think. I did that a lot: sat, ate, and thought.

I sat here most nights and most days when I wasn't training, praying that everything would go back to the way it was before. The thinking part came naturally; I blame it on the chair. This chair: it was the same chair that Annabeth had sat in nearly every moment of every day that Thalia had been with the Medicus. I had it moved in here after, well….yeah.

The entire three weeks, she'd never left Thalia's side. Sometimes I wondered if Thalia ever knew that. If she even cared.

I would wonder how things would be different now if Thalia had known that for three long weeks, Annabeth had sat by her side, wiping the sweat from her brow, reading to her, singing to her.

I would wonder if she still would have left had she known that on the bad nights, when Thalia would have fits in her sleep, that Annabeth would leave her chair and climb into bed with the comatose girl, wrapping her arms around thrashing limbs even when she knew they'd bruise her.

I would wonder if she could feel the love that everyone else so clearly saw as Annabeth pulled Thalia's restless form into her and rocked her as she whispered soft "I love you"s into her hair and ear and neck.

I wonder even now if she knows how much Annabeth loves her.

I think that's probably why I hated her the most: the fact that she left without knowing that Annabeth lived and still lives for her and only her.

I wanted so badly to hurt Thalia for every ounce of hurt she had caused Annabeth. But for the most part, besides just thinking, I would pray. I prayed, as I gazed at Annabeth's tired, emaciated, and broken form, that Thalia would come back and bring Annabeth with her.

Everything was such shit after she left. It hurts to think about sometimes…okay, always.

_Annabeth and I had been sparring because Thalia was late for training. It was a good fight, more playful than anything. The entire bout had been filled with teasing and taunting, but all in good fun. Annabeth was good. Her knife was fast and she knew where I would strike before I'd even thought about it. I'm not sure how, or who's decision it was, but someone brought up the thought of placing a friendly wager on the fight._

"_If I win," she said with a sly smile spreading across her sweat-beaded face, "you've got to do my chores for a week and if you win…"_

"_A kiss," I said with a smirk. Hades, I knew that it would never work between us – she was in love with Thalia – but she was still beautiful and I couldn't deny that I'd thought about it._

"_What! No! Why in Zeus' name would you think I'd agree to that? You know that I'm –"_

"_Hey hey hey!" I cut her off, "If you're so scared of losing then I guess…"_

_She growled, "Me? Lose to you? Ha! Game on, Seaweed Brain."_

_I laughed as I ran at her with Riptide._

_The fight went on for about ten minutes. I could tell I was losing. She was too fast and she knew all my moves. I looked over and saw an open canteen on one of the seats in the arena and smiled internally._

_I switched Riptide to my opposite hand, never losing focus on the fight and, with my right hand, summoned the water from the canteen._

_With a flick of my wrist, the blade of water caught Annabeth across the face, distracting her enough that I was able to kick the knife from her hand, sweep her legs and pin her to the arena floor._

"_Cheater!" she cried._

"_You never said no powers," I smirked._

_She huffed, entirely unhappy with the situation._

"_I'm not going to kiss you, Seaweed Brain. You cheated."_

"_Aww come on," I groaned, "Just pretend I'm you-know-who..." I said with a wink._

_She stiffened underneath me, "What are you…"_

"_Oh come on, Wise Girl. A half-blind Cyclops could see that you're head over heels for her."_

_She blushed, "Oh…well…not her apparently…"_

_I just shook my head at her ignorance, because for every ridiculously cheesy thing Annabeth had done for Thalia, I could easily think of two more I'd heard that Thalia had done for Annabeth._

"_Well," I pushed, "I still want my kiss. So just pretend I'm her, ya?"_

"_Grr….fine."_

_She closed her eyes, scrunching her nose to think. I chuckled internally. I'd never noticed she did that until Thalia had pointed it out one day while we were sparring near her tree and Annabeth had been reading a book on Aristetilian logic._

_When she opened her eyes, there was immeasurable love there. It wasn't half of what I'd seen on a daily basis between the two of them, but it was enough to make the hairs on my arm stand. I could almost pretend that it was for me._

_I leaned down and her eyes fluttered shut._

_Just as I was about to press my lips to hers, she jerked up right, pushing me off and sending me rolling._

_Before I knew what was happening, she was sprinting out of the arena and towards the woods. I could only think of one reason: Thalia._

_She must have seen us. _

Fuck_, I thought._

_I chased after Annabeth and caught her wrist just as we got to the forest's edge._

"_Annabeth," I said, winded, "Thalia…she'll be fine. You know she just needs time to cool off."_

_She looked at me, tears in her eyes, "I don't know, Percy. You didn't feel it. It was like I could feel her hurt as my own. It burned. I have to find her."_

_I looked to the ground, searching for some words to try and console my friend. "How about we wait here for a bit and if she doesn't come out, we'll go and find her, ya?"_

_Annabeth seemed unsure, but nodded anyway._

_We sat at the base of a pine and waited. Five or ten minutes later, we heard it. It was a pained cry that echoed over the tree tops._

"_Artemis!"_

_It was Thalia's voice. I knew it and I was sure Annabeth did._

_She took off running toward Half-Blood Hill. It was as though she was following some internal map toward her Thalia._

_I ran after her, but soon lost the bobbing head of blond. She was too fast for me to follow, but I had an idea of where she was headed. I made my way to Thalia's pine._

_I was half-way there when I heard the wolf's howl. I pushed myself harder._

_I knew Annabeth was almost there and I prayed to the winds that she would reach Thalia in time._

_Then the whisper. The whisper that broke the strongest girl I'd ever known. It floated by me._

"_Goodbye."_

_I stopped. I could have sworn I heard the shattering of glass somewhere in the distance. I ran faster than I've ever run until I reached the top of the hill._

_When I reached the pine, I saw her. Annabeth._

_She wasn't crying. No, Annabeth was too strong for tears._

_She was just sitting there, with her arms wrapped around her chest, as though trying to hold together the pieces of her visibly broken self._

_I moved toward her and wrapped my arms around her suddenly frail body._

_She looked up at me with empty, cold grey eyes, "She's gone."_

She's gone. That was all she said for the first two months after Thalia left.

She never left the cabin. She didn't eat much, but at least it was something. In the beginning, she hadn't even been able to lift her own head. If it hadn't been for ambrosia we'd forced down her throat, I'm sure she would have died.

And the nights...the nights were the worst.

I'll never forget that screaming. Sometimes it would just being screaming, sometimes there would be tears as well...but mostly it was for her. At all hours of the night, for months on end, she would scream, cry, beg for Thalia. For her Thalia.

It got better over time, but there were still bad nights. Sometimes bad days.

I finished my plate of food and set the plate back on the night stand.

I reached over and gently shook the sleeping figure in the bed. "Annabeth," I said. "Annabeth you have to wake up. You have to eat, Wise Girl."

Her eyes opened. "Thalia?"

The question came out on her raspy, cracked voice as she searched the room for her love.

Waking her was always the hardest. It always took her awhile to remember…

"No, Annabeth. It's just me. Just Percy."

"Oh," she sighed, her voice bringing a new meaning to the word 'disappointed,' "Hello, Percy." She looked to the bed stand, then back to me. I nodded towards to food.

She looked to me with confusion heavy behind dulled gray eyes that no longer held even a glimpse of the bright, curious silver ones I had once known.

"No," she said, "I think I'll wait for Thalia. She'll want to eat with me."

I didn't correct her. It was one of the bad days.


	7. Chapter 7

We slipped through the trees that surrounded the fortress-like school. Glints of silver and faint whispers filled up the edges of the forest. Every movement was part of an extravagant dance, perfectly planned and yet entirely free flowing. When one moved, each moved. We were not a group of individuals. We were a wall of death, closing in on this unsuspecting school and its manticore. We could smell him. And our target? We could feel her.

The quest had seemed simple enough: kill the beast, save the girl, recruit the girl, and leave with said girl. And it was, until we reached the walls of the school and felt it…them…her…

It couldn't be her though. I tried to convince myself it wasn't, but all the same...I could feel her. I could feel her in my bones: her heart beating in my chest as though it were my own, the rise and fall of each breath as though her breast was pressed against mine, the smell of her all around me. I felt all it long before I ever laid eyes on her. As I grew nearer the castle, every sense magnified until I could hardly stand it.

I looked to my Lady and when our eyes met I knew she saw my distress. Her eyes grew wide in understanding and then flickered up to an open window. I understood her meaning.

I scaled the wall up to the window with the practiced movements of a hunter. As I reached the sill and peered down towards what I knew to be a typical high school dance, I caught a flash of golden hair and I found myself needing to clamp my eyes shut and look away.

Did I want to see her? No. I needed to see her. I needed to look upon my angel, to see her smile…even if I was not the cause of that smile….even if he was. I needed to know she was okay. I needed to look_. Just look, Thalia. A look won't hurt_, I reasoned.

I gathered my nerve and took a deep breath of the cool night air. My head turned back toward the cheesy music and fumbling adolescents and I opened my eyes. Immediately, without searching, my gaze was drawn to a head of blond and a tall, lean, wonderful figure. I smiled softly to myself at how she had grown since I last saw her. _Beautiful._

Then…then my eyes drifted to the form that she was dancing with. Dark, unkempt hair and green eyes like the sea. It was Percy fucking Jackson. I mentally hit myself. _Of course it was Percy Jackson. Of course it was, you idiot. Who else would it be? Not you. Never you._

Anger built in my chest. My breathing became erratic; losing the soft steady breathing that had echoed hers. I flung my fist into the brick that surrounded the window where I was still perched. The stone shattered. My heart shattered. All over again. Pain. All over again.

I looked back to the room and let my eyes dance over the crowd. Grover was here with them. That meant it was a recovery mission. They were here for the girl and her brother as well. Then there was the manticore. He should have looked up when I punched the wall, the noise was easily loud enough for him to hear, but it looked as though his focus was on two dark-haired, olive-skinned students towards one corner of the room. Those had to be the di Angelo kids. The girl, what was her name? Bianca. Yes, Bianca. She was beautiful.

I leapt from the window. Landing with perfect balance before my lady and the other Hunters. I looked up at them, fighting the tears back from my eyes. I looked to Artemis. I knew she could feel what I was feeling, but I mentally thanked her when her only gesture to me was a slight nod.

I cleared my throat, "Two demi-gods and a satyr. Campers. They're probably here for the same reason we are."

Artemis spoke, "Very good, lieutenant. Your suggestion."

I looked to the Hunters. It was times like these that the silver ring felt a bit heavier as it sat, braided into by dark, now longer, locks. "We wait," I said.

They looked at me, confused.

Zoë questioned from her place at Artemis' side, "Lieutenant, are you sure? We have position. Our markswomen have the manticore in their sights."

I straightened myself to my full height, putting forth the full weight of my position, "Yes, Zoë. I know Perseus Jackson. He is rash and impulsive. He will do something stupid. When he does, opportunity will present itself. We, dear Hunters, will wait for his stupid. We will wait in the trees. Back to cover, all of you."

Zoë looked briefly to Artemis before nodding toward me in acceptance. Even the favored companion of the Lady did not have authority to question my orders. Only the goddess herself could override my word and I knew she would not. I knew she understood what was at stake for me, now.

Not minutes after the Hunters had retreated back to the forest, the doors of the castle-like school burst open. The manticore was dragging the two dark-haired demigods behind him, heading for a cliff and, from what I could tell, calling for backup. My Hunters were chomping at the bit. Zoë and the archers were already drawn and ready.

I called for them to hold. I needed to see her.

The next second, Percy burst through the doors. Alone.

Idiot.

He fought well…for a Seaweed Brain. But he was still losing.

I don't know when she showed up. But I felt a twinge on my peripheral senses and out of nowhere was Annabeth.

My breath hitched, my fingers tingled, my heart raced as I watched her spinning, fighting, diving. She was an angel of death. One moment, at a pause in the fight, as the manticore teetered toward the edge of the cliff, she looked toward the forest. Her eyes met mine.

_No, Thalia. That's not possible. She can't…_ then she blinked. And in that split second I knew. I knew that she saw me as clearly as I saw her, that she felt me as I had felt her heart in my chest the minute we came upon the castle, that she felt the same pull that I did. But then she blinked again and I didn't see Annabeth anymore. No. I saw a broken, fractured little girl. A girl that couldn't be my Annabeth.

It scared me, what I saw in those formerly vast gray pools of intuition and ferocious life. It was so…dead.

And the way she looked at me, like she wasn't sure if I was actually there, it made me feel that I was nothing but a ghost to her. I could see the struggle in her eyes. Those eyes that I could always read better than anyone. They demanded things of me. They demanded my purpose, my intentions, my existence. They drew me out.

Cautiously, I stepped from the cover of the trees towards her. I could hear the other Hunters gasp as I broke formation. I looked to the ground as I paced forward. Each step was heavy, heavier than the step of an immortal should ever be. Slowly, I looked up, letting my eyes meet the shattered and cold gray ones of my love, my heartache.

Our eyes met and the world faded, even as Percy continued to battle the manticore in the background, and it was just the two of us.

I reached out my hand and she reached out hers and our finger tips met between us. I shivered as my callused finger-tips met smooth, warm, clammy skin and accidentally let a small shock pass down my arm. I looked up to see her jump slightly, but remain staring at the place where our fingers met. Her eyes rose to meet mine and I could see the cracks there begin to smooth over. Cold and shallow slowly became dark and passionate.

I pressed our hands together further, so that our palms touched and a ghost of a smile spread across her face, still not the full and beaming blessing of a smile that I was used to, but close enough to make my heart flutter. I smiled back.

"Annabeth," I whispered. "I…"

Before I could finish, one of the manticores spikes flew towards us. I pulled her to the ground just in time to avoid being hit.

We both rolled into fighting stances. My pepper-spray extended to its spear form in my hand and Aegis grew from the bracelet on my left hand. Her knife was already drawn.

Over my shoulder, I yelled, "Archers, fire at will! Avoid the boy!"

As the last words left my lips, silver arrows flew from the trees and rained down with surgical precision on the beast.

It screamed, now with at least twenty arrows buried in its chest.

"Hunters! Forward!"

I felt Annabeth tense as thirty young girls in silver and white robes similar to mine ran from the cover of the trees, swords and spears and bows drawn and ready. I hadn't realized her hand was still in mine until then. I blushed and looked up at her, but she only looked forward. I slid my hand from hers and headed for the beast, dodging spikes as they flew at random from the beast's poisoned tail.

After only moments, he was at the cliff's edge again, short an arm and his tail thanks to the Hunters. I signaled to the others to hold and looked to Lady Artemis. She nodded, so I approached the beast.

"Who has sent you, manticore?"

A roar build steadily in his throat, "That is not your business, Daughter of Zeus."

I brought Aegis hard across is face and he growled loudly.

"I asked you who the fuck sent you for these children, beast! Who?"

At first, he said nothing. Then, he began to laugh, darkly and slowly. Had this been another time, I might have backed down in fear, but with the Hunters and my love at my back I couldn't find it in me to fear the sick bastard. Instead, I once again brought my shield across his face.

"Speak, you bastard child of evil, or I will dismember you slowly." My anger was beginning to blind me of sensibility. I turned to pick up an arrow that had met the ground so that I might drive it into the beast's mocking eye, or the one that wasn't already swollen shut.

I should have seen. I should have sensed, but it wasn't until I looked up to see the horror-stricken faces of my sisters and felt the weight of the beast on top of me that I knew my mistake. I had turned my back on a wounded animal.

I covered my neck with my hands, but couldn't protect my back from the fury of the manticore's sharp claws. I prayed for intervention, for a quick end, but instead, I was granted with relief.

I felt the beast fall away from me as it let out a horrible scream of agony. I recovered quickly to my feet and looked up to see a flash of blond hair on top of the ugly, mangled monster. There, with her knife driven into a weak spot on the manticore's back, was my angel.

I looked up at her and smiled and she smiled back. Correction. Not my angel. My guardian angel.

Then, just as suddenly as her smile had appeared, a looked for terror replaced it. The manticore staggered towards the edge of the cliff. She couldn't get off. Her pants leg was snagged in the chinks of its armor. She wasn't going to make it away in time.

Everything in me screamed to run to her, but I was frozen.

Everything stopped.

The manticore slipped.

They fell, Annabeth's knife still buried in the beast's back.

Before she disappeared over the edge, I caught her eyes one last time. _I love you, _they said. It was final. Too final.

The beast roared as the two plummeted toward the craggy shallows that I was so sure sat at the bottom of the cliff.

Suddenly, something in me snapped. I screamed her name and sprinted toward the cliff, shaking off Aegis and throwing my spear to the side as I ran. I only made it a few yards through, before I was tackled to the ground. I kicked and punched and screamed and tried to fight my way out of the arms that held me, but with every protest, the arms grew stronger and less yielding.

"Thalia," my captor whispered. Artemis. "Thalia, you need to calm down."

"No, Artemis!" I screamed. "I have to go! I have to go get her! I can't lose her again!" I lost the will to fight. I couldn't feel her heart beat anymore. I couldn't feel the rising and falling of her chest. "I…I can't feel her anymore. Her heartbeat…it's…I can't feel it." I dissolved into tears in my Lady's embrace, dampening the front of her robes. I could feel my body shaking, barely soothed by the passage of her warm hand up and down my back, moving in only slightly comforting circles.

"Shh, my brave one. She is not gone. She may not be near, but look deeper. You will see the truth in my words. Her heart yet beats; her soul yet hums alongside your own. Look, my Hunter." I looked up into her bright silver eyes and saw no falseness there, so I shut my own.

My soul was in turmoil, so it made sense that as I searched it for some sign that my Annabeth was still alive, everything I found was indecipherable. I sorted through the tough layers of pain and anguish that had formed as I watched my angel fall over the cliff, through the conflict I had experienced when our hands met, through everything. I cut away months of calloused and emotionless memory that had formed during my time away from Annabeth. I shed years of tight stagnation that had built up over the years that I sat, waiting in my prison and sanctuary. I cut and sliced and peeled until I could see, in my minds eye, the glowing center of my consciousness. It was warm and tickled of electricity and summer breezes. There, in the core of all that was "Thalia" and my life, I could hear it: a faint _thump thump thump._

It was a thumping I would know the sound anywhere and as I listened to its soft yet powerful rhythm, I knew.

My eyes shot open, "I can feel her."

Artemis just smiled knowingly and helped me to my feet.

"I can feel her," I repeated. "Where is she?"

"That, my brave one, I cannot know. You will have to seek counsel…"

"From the Oracle," I finished. She nodded.

Oracle. Oracle meant going back to camp with Percy and Grover, something that I did not want to do.

But for Annabeth…for Annabeth I would do anything.

I looked to my Lady, "Then I will return to camp with Percy and the satyr and the boy."

Percy protested, "And Bianca."

"No," I turned to him, more than a small amount of contempt lacing my voice, "Bianca will not return to camp. Not necessarily."

I turned to the girl, who looked confused. I ceded the floor to Artemis, who made her pitch to the girl as she had so many times. She finished, "You need only swear your allegience to myself and the Hunt, and all of these things: sisterhood, immortality, eternal maidenhood, will be yours."

Bianca looked to her brother, then back to Lady Artemis, "I will."

Nico made a move to protest, but was quieted by his sister, "Shh, Nico. I'll always be around to protect you, but this is where I belong." He looked to the ground, a couple of action figures clutched in his fists.

She made the Oath and immediately took on the soft glow signature to all Hunters. She was given robes to change into and a bow and quiver set identical to all those carried by the Hunters.

I looked to Artemis, Zoë and the Hunters and then to Percy and Grover, "We will leave at sun up. Be ready."


	8. Chapter 8

I was back at camp. I'd been here nearly a week and I was losing it. I needed to get out, to do something. I needed to find her. But the Oracle would say noting. Not to me or anyone else.

I couldn't sleep at night, and when sleep did find me it was filled with darkness and death: Annabeth being tortured, Annabeth being beaten down with whips and words, Annabeth slowly fading. Every night it was as though I could feel her slipping farther from me.

I wanted to help her more than I've ever wanted anything and, often, I tried, in my dreams, to lend her my strength. Sometimes, if I focused on that beating at my core, I felt as though I could bear her pain, if only for a few moments. It was crushing, but I took it gladly.

The lack of sleep and my frustration with the Oracle made me restless and angry, and if I let it show anywhere, it was in my training.

Currently, I was wailing on Percy in the practice arena. It had become a pretty regular thing. I would wake up in the Cabin 8 (because my loyalties were now to Artemis and not my father), grab an apple for breakfast, run a few miles through the forest, archery, blindfolded archery, meditation, more archery, lunch, then wailing on Percy in the arena until dinner time.

One day, though, as we fought, something in me slipped. All the hate and blame I had for Percy over Annabeth's capture that had previously been bottled away somewhere cracked open with a horrifying force. Suddenly, my strikes to force surrender became strikes to hurt, to maim, to kill.

I saw Percy's eyes widen as he recognized my change in fighting style. He was able to block most of my advances. He'd been improving in the last week. Then, one strike of my spear broke through his defenses and grazed his cheek, drawing blood.

"Hey!" he yelled, "Back off, Sparky!"

"Why?" I growled as I threw down my shield and spear and got in his face, "So you can steal her away from me again like last time? So you can get away with what you did? I should have killed you then!"

He staggered backwards, "I…I…" he stumbled, "What are you even talking about, Thalia?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, you sea urchin! I'm not blind! I was there. You kissed her! You never had the right to kiss her! She was mine and you stole her and you didn't even have the fucking decency to protect her once you had her! If it weren't for you she'd be here now, you worthless piece of sea scum!"

"Woah there, Pine Cone Face. I did this? No! I may have had a part but you're the one that fucking left her in pieces! I never broke her. That was all you, Thalia. You're the one that left her all but dead for nine months! Sure, I'm the reason she was there, but you're the reason she was off her game that day. Everything about you just…just f_ucks_ with everything about her!"

It was my turn to stagger backwards. I fell against the side of the arena, gripping the wall for support. "What…what are you telling me?"

"They told me not to tell you. She told me not to tell you, but you know what? You need to know. The day you left? What you saw? She lost a bet with me because I cheated in the arena. All I wanted was a kiss from her, for her to look at me with even a fraction of the love and devotion that cover every inch of her face anytime she even thinks of you. I never kissed her.

"She said…she said that she felt your pain. She knew that you'd seen something. She chased you into the woods, following Hades only knows what. It was like she had some kind of GPS to where you were. She got to the top of the Hill just as you left. But that wasn't what broke her. What broke her is that you said goodbye. Do you remember that? Do you?"

_I remembered. _"I remember…" I couldn't breathe. But I had to know, "Percy…tell me…what happened to Annabeth after I left? What did…what did I do to her?"

He looked to the ground, then looked back at me, "Are you sure you want to know?" I nodded, "After you left, things got really bad, Thals. She was…gone. When you left, you took Annabeth with you. She was so…so broken all the time. She shut down. She wouldn't eat; she wouldn't drink. We had to…well, if we hadn't have taken extreme action, she wouldn't have lived. It was six months before she would say anything other than "Gone" and after that, most of what she said was asking for you, wondering where you were…if you were back yet…"

He trailed off. I slid down the wall I had been leaning against. He hesitated to continue so I looked up to him and urged him on with a look, "Please…I need to know."

"She was always waiting for you Thalia. She would scream your name in her sleep. Eventually, we found that the only way she slept soundly was to put her in your bed in Cabin 1…We had to petition Olympus to have it done and they easily complied. Athena even visited…Annabeth's always been one of her favorites… But none of it mattered…even when she slept well…in her waking hours, she was still half mad. Finally…we had to ask Mr. D for help…because by that point she was certifiable…and he helped. He helped enough for her to become somewhat functional again. Finally about two weeks ago, Grover got assigned to pick up this brother and sister from some high class private school…"

"The di Angelo's," I finished.

He nodded, "She still wasn't right, but I convinced Chiron to let me take her. I figured that she needed to get away from the place…from the memories. Everything was going fine until the dance…she heard….there was a song. I don't remember which…but it reminded her of you, I guess. She broke down. I was practically holding her up. Then…all of a sudden, it was like something went off in her head. At first I thought it was another one of her episodes, but then she started mumbling stuff like…'I can feel her, Percy. I can feel her.' I didn't know what to think. Then… then this is where it starts being my fault. I stared too hard, I guess. The manticore noticed us and started dragging Bianca and Nico towards the door. I called Grover over to watch Annabeth and ran after them…shit if I hadn't…GAH!" He yelled as he punched the wall, clearly not noticing that I was already crumbled against it. The force of the impact shook me out of my stupor.

I looked up at him. "She wasn't having an episode…I think…I think we can feel each other. I don't really get it, but it's how I know she's still alive. I can feel it…her heartbeat, right here." I pressed a hand to my armor-clad chest, just beside where my own would be.

I though about what he'd said. I ran through all the images I'd kept from that day – those moments when our hands had pressed together on the cliff. I'd seen it then, I think: the cracks in her, the broken girl that had taken the place of my Annabeth, the emptiness. But I'd also seen those cracks smooth over, her form seeming to regain its glow. I wondered….I wondered if she'd seen the same fractures in me. I'd certainly felt them over the ten months I'd been without her…

Every second without her had been heavy with the absence of her laugh, her smile, her warmth, the way she smelled as we lied together in the grass. Every morning, I had woken without her in my arms and I had felt empty. I had let myself harden. I set the fragments of my heart to the task of becoming the best Hunter possible.

Artemis saw my dedication. It was why she named me lieutenant, even though I was the most junior member of the Hunt. Well…that and she wanted Zoë by her side more often now that they'd stopped trying to fool anyone about their relationship. I wondered briefly whether that revelation had come after seeing what a mess I'd made of things. Knowing Artemis…probably. But in general, I'd ignored the beating of my heart every moment until I felt hers along side it, outside of castle.

"I love her."

I looked over to Percy, my eyebrow furrowed.

He looked to me, "Yeah. Duh."

I let a smile cross my lips, but just as I was about to reach over and punch him in the arm, a glint of silver caught my eye and out of the trees burst the Hunters, led by Zoë.

My smile grew as I clambered up from the ground and ran towards my sisters. As I neared them, though, I swear my heart stopped. Several things gave me pause: Zoë absent Artemis at her side, panicked looks across the faces of every silver-clad Hunter, and, most alarming, the tears streaming from the eyes of the strongest woman I'd ever known.

Frightened of the answer, I addressed them and asked the question that begged asking, "I am glad to see you, sisters, but what...what has happened?"

Zoë stepped forward, eyes red and pain-stricken, "Lieutenant…. Thalia…. she's… Artemis is gone."


	9. Chapter 9

It took me hours, after the girls arrived, to get Zoë to calm down enough that I could understand what she was saying, but even after the third retelling, I still wasn't sure, entirely, of what was going on.

After I'd left with Percy to return to camp, the Hunt had continued on without me. A day after the incident with manticore, though, Artemis had halted the hunt somewhere in Iceland. "She came to me as she does every night, but I could tell from her demeanor that something was not right. She told me…she said that she needed to go alone. She needed to find something special…to hunt it. She would tell me nothing more," Zoë had cried into my shoulder, "Why would she not have told me, Thalia? I am her… we are…she is my world."

I tried to console her, to calm her anxieties, but it was difficult when my own nerves were still on edge. I myself was still reeling from the loss of my angel, but nonetheless I knew I had to at least try to be strong for Zoë. I had to help find my Lady – my sister – and I had to find my Annabeth.

"I'll help you find her, Zoë. We'll bring her back."

I went around to the Hunters, asked the normal questions: How long ago did Artemis leave? Which direction had she headed? Had she been acting differently? Every Hunter had the same answer to every question. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but I do not know." "Sorry Thalia, I can't help you." "Dunno, boss. Sorry."

I quickly became frustrated with their lack of helpfulness. I stormed from Cabin Eight, where the Hunters had bunked down for the time being. I strode angrily straight to the arena, drawing my spear from my belt without missing a step. I flung it straight into the heart of a wooden dummy before throwing myself down on a log bench with a huff.

I knew I shouldn't be angry with them, but I was. How had they seen nothing? How had they not felt her distress? Then I realized…I hadn't felt it either. But Zoë had. How?

I stood and pulled my spear from the kebab-ed dummy. Quickly, I shrunk it back to a pepper spray can, clipped it to my belt and turned on my heel towards the cabins. When I reached cabin 8, I moved quickly up the stairs and through the pillared entrance. When I reached the sleeping quarters, I made my way directly for the bed at the back of the room. It had been isolated from the rest by curtains that smelled strangely of Annabeth. _I should probably not tell Zoë that that's more than a little bit of the reason why I spend so much time at her side, _I thought and smiled briefly to myself.

I pulled back the curtains with no measure of gentleness, and climbed up on the bed, hovering over the sleeping figure.

I poked her. She didn't wake. I shook her shoulder gently. Nothing. I said her name, still shaking her, now less softly than before. Finally…

"Zoë! Wake up!"

Bad idea. She jerked upright and I was flung off the bed with the force, whacking my head on the side table on the way down.

"Ow…" I whined, rubbing the bump that was quickly forming.

She peered over the edge of the bed. Then her searching gaze turned into that older-sister-who-wants-to-hit-you glare that she's way too good at. "Thalia!" she growled, "What did thou intend to do? You gave me a fright, you little imp! Why hast thou awoken me?"

I groaned at the scolding. _At least she's awake_, I thought.

I stood and moved back to sit on the bed. I took Zoë's hands in mine and looked at her seriously. "Zoë, you told me you knew that something had happened to Artemis, yeah?"

She nodded.

"Yet not one of the other Hunters felt or heard or saw anything."

She shrugged.

"So how did you know?"

She looked down, her eyebrows drawing together in thought. "I am not sure," she said as she looked back up to me. "I simply knew. Twas as if, in one moment, all was well and in the next…it was as though someone had robbed mine lungs of air, as though mine heart could not recall its own beat. I cannot explain it, Thalia, but I knew in that instant that something had happened." She looked up to me, with tears once again in her only recently dried eyes.

In that moment, everything fell into place. Annabeth. Me. Artemis. Zoë. Everything. All the pieces fit. I understood.

"Zoë! I think I get it now!" She looked at me like a crazy person, which I generally am with the exception of this instance right here. "The feeling. The feeling you got when Artemis was taken! It's like…a connection or something."

Okay. I'd definitely lost her by this point.

I continued, "You and Artemis. You're everything to each other: friends, companions, lovers…"

At the mention of that last word, Zoë turned a bright red. She nodded.

"I mean…you two have been together for centuries. She is your other half and you are hers. Do you disagree?" She shook her head 'no.' I went on, "Okay…when I was with Annabeth that night, I started to feel something in my chest. It was like her heart was beating right alongside mine. Every inch of me was absorbed by every inch of her and I could feel all of her. It was…beyond words.

"But when she…" I hesitated at the memory, "when she went over the cliff, it was all ripped away. I couldn't feel her heart next to mine anymore. I thought she was dead. I thought I had lost her." I hadn't realized I was crying until a lone tear dropped into my lap. I looked up at Zoë again through tear-blurred eyes.

She asked, almost in a whisper, "How dost thou know, then? How dost thou know that she is alive even when you can no longer feel her?"

"The same way that we're going to find our girls, Zoë," I smiled softly.

She looked at me like I'd grown a hydra head on either side of my neck, "What is it you are saying, Thalia? Do not fool with me, for, above all others, thou should know better than to give false hope to one with a broken heart."

"No, no, no! Just listen. This isn't false hope, Zoë! See, when I collapsed on the cliff because I thought I'd lost Annabeth, Artemis took me in her arms and told me that if I only looked inside myself, I would know the truth…that she wasn't gone. It took some digging, but I found it. It's like this…this thing at the center of everything you are, like a warm core of light at the center of your soul. I could hear her again. I could feel her again. I tried to use it to find her, but everything was dark with pain and confusion. Zoë, you need to look inside yourself and find your connection to Artemis. It would be stronger than the one I have to Annabeth because Artemis is a god. Your connection could be strong enough that it could lead us to where Luke has them. But you have to focus. You have to look inside yourself, please, Zoë, for me …for Annabeth…for your soul mate."

I finished my plea to her, out of breath and emotionally exhausted. I looked into her bright golden eyes and begged without words for her to try.

Finally, she nodded and closed her eyes. I watched as her brow furrowed and her jaw became clenched. Her eyes darted back and forth beneath the lids. Her breathing was slow and steady.

For a while nothing happened. But then…in an instant, she stopped breathing all together, pink rose in her cheeks, and a soft calm came over the whole room. I recognized the presence and settled into its embrace as easily as I had that day on the cliff. It was as though Artemis was with us, cradling each and every person in the cabin. I peeked out of the curtain to see the few girls in the cabin simply stopped. The just stood, smiling softly to themselves. They felt it too.

I closed the curtain and turned back to Zoë. I jumped when I turned to find her, sitting there as she was before, but glowing now with the same soft, white aura that was usually wrapped around Lady Artemis.

Unconsciously, my hand reached toward her…toward the light. As my fingertips neared Zoë's cheek, they began to tingle with the energy flowing around her. Finally, I pressed my palm to her cheek and whispered, "Zoë, come back to me."

For a few seconds, nothing happened. She just sat there in her meditative state.

Then, her breathing returned to normal and her eyes slowly opened as the light around her faded. She looked surprised to see me, standing there before her. She cocked her head to the sideand just sort of stared straight ahead for a second. Then, all of a sudden, something snapped.

Before I knew what was happening, a blur of dark hair and silver cloth pushed past me and out to the main area. She sprinted over to my bed, which was distinguishable by the grey and navy comforter that contrasted the silver that covered the rest of the beds. Did I steal Annabeth's blanket? Yes. Yes I did. Please don't judge me for it.

When I finally got to her side, she was digging around my rucksack, looking for something. "Zoë, what are you doing? What happened? What did you –"

I was cut off as her hand flew up to cover my mouth. She turned and looked me directly in the eye with frighteningly silver irises. _Hades' balls, that's…new.._

Her hand slid to my mouth and she turned back to the bag. She carefully, deliberately pulled my book of maps from the rucksack. She slowly unwound the string that bound it closed. As she opened it, the pages fell apart as though guided by some unknown force…to a map of the Western United States. She looked up to me, as though to make sure I was still following. Then she turned slowly back to the map, reaching one steady, slender finger.

"Here."

Her voice was so…different. It took me a moment just to register that it had been her that'd said it. Usually Zoë's voice had a sharp edge to it and a raspy quality to it that made it simultaneously commanding and – don't take this weirdly – sexy. But the voice that came from her with that one word was…almost bell like. It echoed without echoing. It held a depth that I'd only heard in the words of gods, before that moment.

I shook my head, shaking off the shock at her voice, to finally look to where her finger came to rest.

_Fuck._


End file.
